Sur Jahan, over the years has worked with myriad musicians from across the world.
And one word that these exponents of world music have repeatedly used to
describe the festival, is that it is ‘sound’. Sound in the way it is organised;
sound in the way it is held, and sound in a way that it ticks all the right
boxes of what makes a noteworthy world music festival.
After being incepted in 2011 in Kolkata, the following years saw
the festival spread to Delhi and Dhaka, Bangladesh. While the poor reception in
the latter two places encouraged the organisers to discontinue the festival
there, the organisers struck gold when they moved to Goa in 2015. Since then,
the festival is held in Kolkata in the first week of February, followed by Goa
after a break of two-three days. Amitava Bhattacharya, festival director, says,
“The idea of Sur Jahan, formerly known as Sufi Sutra, has been to celebrate
cultural diversity. Currently, various sections of society are attempting to
divide based on religion, geography, colour, caste and so on and so forth. It
is very important to do the reverse – to celebrate togetherness. Peace is not
the product; it is the process. So when the whole world is getting divided, it
is important to check the process.”
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
Armed with the mantra of ‘Music for all and music for peace’,
the festival has aged like fine wine. Every edition of the festival showcases a
variety of cultures from across the world, thereby exposing the audience to
these less popular cultures.
But looking back, Bhattacharya says that while the idea of the
festival was great, the execution was not easy at all. He says, “With Goa
hosting a high number of festivals of various genres, it is not an easy place
for a festival planner; one really needs to find the niche. In the first
edition that was held in Goa, we noticed that the audience loved it and it was
a big hit. The ‘music elites’, the people who really understand and love music,
dedicatedly attend the festival. Goa itself has a treasure trove of traditional
culture, contemporary culture, fusion, etc but there was no world music
festival. We are happy we filled that gap.”
Bhattacharya
is also elated to have Goa as a regular venue for the festival, thanks to the
receptiveness of the Goan audience. He says, “Within an hour’s concert, there
are many magical moments. Only in Goa, the audience in Goa catches all the
moments – this is special
